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A large body of research has documented racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity in the United States (US) but less work has sought to understand differences within racial groups. Longitudinal studies are needed to describe BMI trajectories across development, particularly for Black children from immigrant families who have been underrepresented in childhood obesity research. The current study utilizes BMI data collected longitudinally from ages 5 to 8 years and growth mixture modeling to (1) identify and visualize growth patterns among Black children from primarily Caribbean immigrant families, and (2) to compare these patterns to growth trajectories among Black children from US-born families. First, we identified four classes or trajectories of growth for Black children from immigrant families. The largest trajectory (70% of the sample) maintained non-overweight throughout the study period. A second trajectory developed overweight by age 8 (25%). Two small trajectory groups demonstrated high rates of moderate and severe obesity-i.e., specifically, a trajectory of accelerated weight gain ending in moderate/severe obesity (3%), and a trajectory of early severe obesity with BMI decreasing slightly with age (2%). We identified a very similar four class/trajectory model among Black children from US-born families, and compared the model to the one for children from immigrant families using multi-group growth mixture modeling. We found that the patterns of growth did not differ significantly between the populations, with two notable exceptions. Among Black children from immigrant families, ∼ 5% were classified into the two heavier BMI trajectories, compared to ∼ 11% of children from US-born families. Additionally, among children with an accelerated weight gain trajectory, children from immigrant families had lower BMIs on average at each time point than children from US-born families. These findings describe the multiple trajectories of weight gain among Black children from immigrant families and demonstrate that although these trajectories are largely similar to those of Black children from US-born families, the differences provide some evidence for lower obesity risk among Black children from immigrant families compared to Black children from US-born families. As this study is the first to describe BMI trajectories for Black children from immigrant families across early and middle childhood, future work is needed to replicate these results and to explore differences in heavier weight trajectories between children from immigrant and US-born families., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Existing literature on Black caregiver's interactions with their children has overwhelmingly focused on parenting deficits and interventions designed to "fix" Black families. In utilizing the BlackCreate framework (2023), this study explores how Black caregivers intentionally crafted learning spaces for their children within the context of a six month intervention. Brilliant Joy in a Box was a six-month intervention developed in partnership with a Black woman entrepreneur that delivered caregiver-child Black history home learning boxes to families during the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of addressing the impacts of persistent historical educational inequities for Black youth, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic Black families, and requests from community members seeking additional programming during the winter months. In the current study, we analyzed videos of 77 families interacting during a guided play activity. We found that the learning spaces created by Black families focused on four subject matters and their domains: literacy, scientific curiosity, math, and identity. We also found that Black caregivers organically utilized guided play to promote joyful interaction and learning. Findings underscore the importance of educators and school staff learning from families in order to reimagine learning and design community based interventions.

Background: Previous research shows that socioeconomic status (SES) positively impacts children's development, yet the benefits are not equally distributed across racial groups. According to the Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) framework, Black children tend to experience smaller gains from parental education compared to White children., Objective: Building on the MDRs framework, this study examines whether high financial strain contributes to the diminished returns of parental education for Black children, using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. We hypothesized that: (1) there would be a positive effect of parental education on total cortical volume, (2) this effect would be weaker for Black than White children, and (3) higher household financial strain in Black families would mediate the diminished returns of parental education on total cortical volume for Black children., Methods: Data were drawn from the baseline ABCD Study, focusing on 7,936 9- and 10-year-old children identified as either Black (n = 1,775) or White (n = 6,161). Parental education was the key independent variable, covariates included age, sex, household income, and marital status, race was the moderator, financial strain was the mediator, and total cortical volume was the outcome. Structural Equation Models (SEMs) were employed to examine the associations between parental education and cortical volume, with financial strain as a mediator and race as a moderator., Results: Higher parental education was associated with greater cortical volume in the pooled sample. However, this effect was significantly weaker for Black children. Financial strain partially mediated the observed diminished returns of parental education., Conclusion: High financial strain experienced by middle-class Black families partially explains why the association between parental education and child development is weaker in Black than White families. Interventions aimed at enhancing educational quality, increasing employability, expanding access to higher-paying jobs, and reducing labor market discrimination against Black individuals may help address racial inequities in child development in the U.S. Efforts to reduce financial strain should extend beyond low-income populations to also support higher-educated minority families.

Aim: Participation disparities among Black children with disabilities are widely documented in a variety of disciplines. Grounded in the Social Model of Disability and Disability Critical Race Theory, the purpose of this scoping review was to examine the extent to which occupational therapy has contributed to the study of participation outcomes among Black children with disabilities., Methods: Empirical studies published from 2010 to 2021 that reported participation outcome data published in nine frequently cited journals were included in this scoping review. Twenty studies were found to meet the criteria., Results: Participation outcomes were reported for six occupations: play, social participation, activities of daily living (ADLs), education, sleep, and health management). The majority of studies reviewed recruited small samples of Black children with disabilities and provided limited to no description of the specific participation differences by racial/ethnic demographics., Conclusion: Occupational therapy has made few contributions to the growing literature on participation disparities for Black children with disabilities. Implications for practice are discussed.

Background: There is limited information regarding the intergenerational transmission of mental health among three generations (i.e., grandparents, parents, and children) of Black families. Given that intergenerational and kinship ties are integral in Black families, this study explores the context that might contribute to the generational transmission of mental health among Black families., Methods: The present study examined the retrospective family history of mental health among fathers and mothers, current reports of their depression, and their children's internalizing and depressive symptoms among a sample of 2530 Black families from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study using waves 4 to 6. All analyses were conducted using STATA 15.1., Results: Focal children's maternal and paternal grandparents' history of mental health was associated with higher odds of depression in their mothers and fathers; in addition, child-internalizing symptoms were associated with a report of depression in maternal grandparents in waves 4 and 5. Children of mothers who were depressed had higher internalizing scores in waves 4, 5, and 6., Limitations: This descriptive study did not account for how parenting might also be protective against childhood internalizing behaviors. A retrospective account may not fully encapsulate a complete understanding of mental health patterns., Conclusions: In treating the mental and behavioral health of Black families, it is essential to focus on multiple generations of family health, given that family history is the strongest predictor of the youth's onset of depression. The utility of these findings in understanding psychological distress and strengths among Black families is discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To study the influence of tropical endemic limboconjunctivitis (TELC) on the distribution of astigmatism in a population of black children., Patients and Methods: We matched two groups of 36 children between the ages of 3 and 15 by age and sex. Group 1 consisted of children with TELC, and group 2 was made up of controls. All underwent cycloplegic refraction. The studied variables were age, sex, type and stage of TELC, spherical equivalent, absolute cylinder value and clinical type of astigmatism. The odds ratio was used to quantify the link between TELC and astigmatism. We used the Chi 2 test for the comparison of qualitative variables and the Student T test for the comparison of the means of quantitative variables. The threshold of significance of the differences was set at 0.05., Results: Astigmatism was more common in children with TELC (61.97% vs. 37.5%), (OR=1.53; 95% CI 1.08-2.15; P=0.012). The history of TELC was associated with an increased risk of with-the-rule astigmatism (OR 1.91; 95%CI (1.23-2.97)., Conclusion: Pediatric TELC is frequently associated with the with-the-rule astigmatism in our practice setting., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

This study compared neurological complications among a national sample of United States children with or without sickle cell disease (SCD) and evaluated health status, healthcare and special education utilization patterns, barriers to care, and association of SCD status and demographics/socioeconomic status (SES) on comorbidities and healthcare utilization. Data was acquired from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Sample Child Core questionnaire 2007-2018 dataset that included 133,542 children. An affirmation from the guardian of the child determined the presence of SCD. Regression analysis was used to compare the associations between SCD and demographics/SES on neurological conditions at p < 0.05. Furthermore, adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were estimated for having various neurological conditions. Of the 133,481 children included in the NHIS, the mean age was 8.5 years (SD: 0.02) and 215 had SCD. Of the children with SCD, the sample composition included male ( n = 110), and Black ( n = 82%). The SCD sample had higher odds of having neuro-developmental conditions ( p < 0.1). Families of Black children (55% weighted) reported household incomes < 100% of federal poverty level. Black children were more likely to experience longer wait times to see the doctor (AOR, 0.3; CI 0.1-1.1). Compared to children without SCD, those with SCD had a greater chance of seeing a medical specialist within 12 months (AOR 2.3; CI 1.5-3.7). This representative sample of US children with SCD shows higher odds of developing neurological complications, increased healthcare and special education services utilization, with Black children experiencing a disproportionate burden. This creates the urgency to address the health burden for children with SCD by implementing interventions in healthcare and increasing education assistance programs to combat neurocognitive impairments, especially among Black children.

Several studies have highlighted the mental health challenges of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, especially, in relation to an escalation of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whilst this may be the reality, it is unfortunate that most of the studies adopt a psychopathological point of departure often portraying doom and gloom. Adopting a social ecological resilience perspective the author focuses on the resilience of school-attending black South African youth during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Child and Youth Resilience Measurement (CYRM-28) was completed by 4165 respondents in grades 4 to 12 (females = 2431, 58.4%; males = 1734, 41.6%) from the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces in South Africa. The findings indicate that school psychologists must consider gender, age and school levels when they design school-based resilience programmes for black South African children. Particular emphasis should be placed on contextual resilience highlighting spiritual, religious, cultural and educational factors. A major lesson for school psychologists is to ensure that school-based resiliency programmes adopt a whole school approach that includes children, their families and local communities for the successful promotion of resilience during adverse situations as postulated by the social ecological resilience model., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Objective: Suicide rates and frequency of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for suicidal thoughts and behaviors have increased among Black preadolescents in the United States in recent years. This study examined whether characteristics of ED visits and treatment management of preadolescents with suicidal thoughts and behaviors differed by race., Methods: An electronic medical record query identified patients ages 8-12 (N=504) who visited a pediatric ED with a psychiatric-related chief complaint in 2019. The authors examined suicidal thoughts and behaviors that were reported with the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions tool, ED clinical impression, and ED disposition overall and by race., Results: Compared with other racial groups, Black preadolescents were less likely to report suicidal thoughts, despite equivalent lifetime histories of suicide attempts, and were more likely to be brought to the ED by police and discharged (instead of being admitted to inpatient psychiatric care)., Conclusions: Research to better understand racial disparities in suicide risk among preadolescents can inform prevention efforts.

The early years are a critical period for setting children up for school and life. For Black children who are exposed to adversities before and after birth, early childhood education (ECE) has been shown as one potentially strategy to mitigate against systemic inequities. However, evidence continues to show the negative impact of structural racism and system inequities in the lives of Black children. While Black children continue to thrive even in the face of biased experiences and unfairness, it is imperative that simultaneous attention focus on how to best support the well-being Black children and address systemic racism. This paper discusses ECE and its evidence and calls for policies and strategies that dismantle racism inherent in ECE by ensuring equitable funding, equity-centered monitoring, and equity-centered assessment of family engagement. To support Black children's health, development, and well-being, we must attend to policies that address equitable access, supports, experiences, and outcomes., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The persisting issue of racial injustice within disciplinary action referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline has been frequently examined and studied across multiple disciplines spanning education, public policy, criminal justice, and others. The racial school discipline crisis is the disproportionate and differential use of exclusionary action against Black children in school. While disproportionate exclusion occurs throughout the educational continuum, early childhood expulsions and suspensions are a growing concern and are linked to further problems in kindergarten and beyond. With national attention from civil rights organizations drawing eyes to the injustices, educational systems are looking to solve the over-use of suspension and expulsion to address student behavior. Behavior analysts are often tasked with addressing and reducing the behavioral concerns of students; however, there is a gap in the behavior analytic literature on racism in schools. Bringing awareness to anti-Black racism in American schooling is an initial step for behavior analysts to take toward dismantling oppressive systems within education., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interestI have no conflict of interest to disclose, (© Association for Behavior Analysis International 2022.)

Recently, research has reported that the rates of suicide among Black children between the ages of 5 to 12-years-old are increasing as they are now more likely to commit suicide than White children. Yet, there are very few, if any, frameworks being used by researchers to explain the risks of suicide among Black children. Suicide research has overwhelmingly been focused on White youth thus leaving a critical gap in suicide research. This conceptual paper provides an integrated framework using the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide and Intersectionality theory, as a guide for researchers, clinicians, and practitioners to incorporate culturally appropriate techniques in their work as a way to prevent suicide among Black children. This framework highlights racial discrimination, mental health, socioeconomic status, and sexual/gender minority status to be the most preeminent, yet understudied factors leading to suicide risk among Black children in the United States. Reprinted with permission of SAGE Publications; Opara et al. J Black Stud (51:611-631), copyright 2020., (Copyright © 2022 by the American Psychiatric Association.)

Background: In the United States, Black children spend more time in out-of-home placement than other children and are less likely to experience family reunification following involvement with child welfare services. Within Canada, very few studies have examined Black children's exits from the child welfare system and factors influencing their service trajectory., Objective: This study, the first of its kind in Canada, uses longitudinal clinical administrative data to examine reunification outcomes for Black children following placement in out-of-home care., Participants and Setting: The study population includes 1395 children receiving ongoing child welfare services in Quebec between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2011., Methods: A longitudinal research design from anonymized clinical administrative data extracted from a single child welfare agency in Montreal. Survival analysis using a Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression examined the trajectory and chances of family reunification from the point of each child's initial placement., Results: Black children spend longer lengths of time in out-of-home placement and are less likely to experience family reunification when compared to other children. Poorer reunification outcomes for Black children were associated with placement instability, the age of the child and reasons for child welfare involvement., Conclusions: While we tend to prioritize prevention services for vulnerable communities, this study indicates that attention must be given to services all throughout Black children's service trajectory to ensure that these children are able to exit the child welfare system in a timely manner., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The overrepresentation of Black children in the child welfare system is a social problem that has received longstanding attention in the United States, but has recently received increasing attention in Canada., Objective: This qualitative study explores the findings of two quantitative studies (Antwi-Boasiako et al., 2020, 2021) in order to interpret them through the perspectives of child welfare workers and community service providers. The aim is to gain a deeper understanding on the potential factors that contribute to the overrepresentation of Black children in Ontario's child welfare system., Participants and Setting: The study involved twenty-one child welfare workers from two child welfare organizations in Ontario serving lots of Black families and thirteen community service providers in Toronto., Methods: Six focus groups were completed with thirty-four participants. Each of the focus groups was audio recorded and manually transcribed verbatim. Constant comparison analysis was used to analyze the transcribed data., Results: Themes that emerged from the study include the following concerns: racism and bias from referral sources; racism and bias from child welfare workers; lack of cultural sensitivity; lack of workforce diversity/training; lack of culturally appropriate resources; assessment tools; duty to report; fear of liability; lack of collaboration; and poverty., Conclusions: The results from this study reinforce the need to shift practice that acknowledges Black families as valuable stakeholders and experts of their own lives and involves them in the development and implementation of policies and practices that affect them., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The overrepresentation Black children experience in the child welfare system is well documented in the United States, but such studies are now emerging in Canada. In Ontario, there are few studies that address this issue concerning Black families., Objective: This study is to explore the insights of child welfare workers and community service providers on how to potentially address Black children's overrepresentation in Ontario's child welfare system., Participants and Setting: Twenty-one child welfare workers from two child welfare organizations in Ontario that serves many Black families and thirteen community service providers in Toronto participated in the study., Methods: Six focus groups were conducted with thirty-four participants. Audio recording from each of the focus groups was manually transcribed verbatim. We utilized constant comparison analysis to analyse the transcribed data., Results: Potential solutions to overrepresentation that emerged from the focus group discussions included viewing Black families as experts of their own lives; increasing workforce diversity; educating referral sources and Black families on child welfare practices; subjecting referral sources to detailed questioning; stopping harmful record keeping on families; providing cultural sensitivity training and education; partnering with community organizations; and providing mentorship opportunities., Conclusions: The findings from this study emphasize the need for changes related to child welfare assessment tools, workforce development, and shifts in system orientation to address systemic racism and Black children's overrepresentation in the child welfare system., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Obesity is prevalent in Black children and adults; increasing physical activity (PA) can aid in reducing childhood obesity in both age groups. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine current research on PA interventions in school-age Black children. Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in six databases for PA interventions in Black children. A total of 13 articles met inclusion criteria (n = 7 randomized controlled trial, n = 5 quasi-experimental, n = 1 cross-sectional). The majority of the articles were on a combination of diet and PA programs (n = 9). Four articles targeted PA and parental role modeling of PA as the outcome showing positive intervention effects. Nine additional studies included PA as an outcome variable along with at least one additional obesity-related predictor. PA interventions for Black school-age children typically use a parent-child dyadic approach (n = 13), are guided by theory (n = 11) and are high quality. However, continued investigation is warranted to draw definitive conclusions and determine how to best involve parents within the PA interventions. Theory-driven higher quality trials that clearly describe the structured PA component and outcomes among Black parent-child dyads are needed., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Recently, research has reported that the rates of suicide among Black children between the ages of 5 to 12-years-old are increasing as they are now more likely to commit suicide than White children. Yet, there are very few, if any, frameworks being used by researchers to explain the risks of suicide among Black children. Suicide research has overwhelmingly been focused on White youth thus leaving a critical gap in suicide research. This conceptual paper provides an integrated framework using the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide and Intersectionality theory, as a guide for researchers, clinicians, and practitioners to incorporate culturally appropriate techniques in their work as a way to prevent suicide among Black children. This framework highlights racial discrimination, mental health, socioeconomic status, and sexual/gender minority status to be the most preeminent, yet understudied factors leading to suicide risk among Black children in the United States., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant health impact around the world. In the United States, there has been a difference in infection and death rates for Black Americans and other marginalized groups as compared to White Americans. Although children do not seem to be suffering infection, morbidity and mortality to the same degree as adults, there is concern that COVID-19 could have a disparate impact on children with acquired or congenital disabilities when analyzed through the lens of race and equity. The possibility that there could be a differential effect on rehabilitation services relates to: the risk of familial/parental exposure leading to secondary infection, the negative economic impact of public health measures required to control disease spread, and the pre-existing social factors that impact access to healthcare. Finally, the psychosocial stresses imposed by COVID-19 inflame risk factors for non-accidental injury, which could lead to an increased need for pediatric rehabilitation services in vulnerable populations. It is critical that individual providers, as well as the health systems in which they practice, actively focus on mitigating personal and systemic causes of racial and ethnic health outcome disparities. These efforts need to move beyond a race neutral construct to specifically anti-racist activity.

Objective: This study evaluated the associations between cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk factors among black South African children., Design: The participants included 34 black South African children (11.85 ± 0.89 y). CMD risk factors included waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), body mass index z-score (BMI z-score), blood pressure (SBP, DBP), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FINS), and vessel stiffness index (SI). Heart rate variability was used to quantify cardiac ANS activity., Results: lnRMSSD, pNN50 and lnSD1 were inversely associated with FINS (r = -0.33, p = 0.05; r = -0.36, p = 0.03; r = -0.41, p = 0.01), WC (r = -0.45, p = 0.01; r = -0.39, p = 0.02; r = -0.45, p = 0.01), and HC (r = -0.41, p = 0.01; r = -0.36, p = 0.03; r = -0.43, p = 0.01). HDL was positively associated with lnRMSSD (r = 0.37; p = 0.03) and lnSD1 (r = 0.37; p = 0.03) while, LDL was negatively associated with HF (r = -0.41; p = 0.01). Regression analysis identified WC as the primary predictor for parasympathetic modulation in time domain (lnRMSSD: r2 = 0.21, p = 0.01; pNN50: r2 = 0.18, p = 0.01) and non-linear domain (lnSD1: r2 = 0.21, p = 0.01)., Conclusion: Elevated resting parasympathetic activity in children is associated with lower CMD risk factors and an elevation in the protective HDL., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study reports the secondary analysis of a theme that emerged from a larger study on Black women's perceptions of Black men's depression. This emerging theme was concerning the role of Black women in rearing Black boys. Eight focus groups with Black women ( N = 46) were used to further explore this theme. Our secondary analysis identified three subthemes, including the (a) presence (or absence) of fathers in parenting Black children, (b) Black women's role in coddling Black boys, and (c) Black women's role in "raising" Black girls. Study implications include the contextual lens that underscores parenting variations within Black families.

Background: Prominent ear is the most common congenital ear deformity affecting 5% of children in the Western world and has profound psychosocial effects on the bearer. It is important to know the prevalence in the local population to have a better appreciation of the local burden of the abnormality as well as to know the parameters of ear morphology locally. These parameters can be useful in the diagnosis and evaluation of ear anomalies and may help reconstructive surgeons in reproducing an anatomically correct ear of an African/Zimbabwean child., Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of prominent ears in black school going children in Zimbabwe and to establish morphometric properties of the ear., Design: Prospective observational, cross sectional study., Setting: Three Primary schools in Harare. Two in a high density area and one in a low density area., Materials and Methods: Three Primary schools in Harare were selected at random. The following measurements were taken: ear lengths, ear projection and face height using a sliding caliper. Three hundred and five healthy pupils of the age range 9-13 years of both sexes were included in the study, whilst children with congenital anomalies, ear tumours and history of ear trauma were excluded., Results: The mean ear height across the cohort was 56.95 ± 5.00 (right ear) and 56.86 ± 4.92 (left ear). Ear projection was 19.52 ± 2.14 (right ear) and 19.59 ± 2.09 (left ear). Gender related differences were noted. Mean ear height was significantly higher in males (p-value = 0.000). Ear projection was higher in males compared to females. A total of 6.89% had prominent ears. Among males, 7.69% had prominent ears whilst 6.17% of females had prominent ears., Conclusion: The prevalence of prominent ear among black African children in the studied population is comparable to that of Caucasians. The study provides a set of biometric data of auricular dimensions for normal black African children aged 9-13 years.